Feel Good Friday - Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

It's Feel Good Friday and time to celebrate another group that focuses on civil liberties. Today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also known as CAIR.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, established in 1994 with the vision to "be a leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding." Their national headquarters are in Washington DC and they have regional chapters in 20 states, with the first one established in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Their mission, as explained on the website, is "to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding." They do this through a focus on media relations, government relations, education and advocacy.

Specific examples of this work include advocating on behalf of Muslims and others who have experienced religious discrimination and hate crimes, monitoring legislation and government activities that affect Muslims, sponsoring voter registration drives, condemning terrorism and all acts of violence against civilians, organizing training seminars and ensuring that an accurate portrayal of Islam and Muslims is presented to the American public. Whew! You can see a great example of how the Muslim community is supporting the Jewish community in this one minute video.

You can contribute to the work being done by CAIR in the usual ways - making a donation, volunteering your time and showing your support on social media by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @CAIRNational. You can also do something very empowering and unique.

Visit the CAIR site, #RegisterMeFirst, and show your opposition to a Muslim registry by adding yourself to a map of the USA and pledging to register in solidarity.  Share THAT on Twitter.

Feel Good Friday - Active Change Foundation

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut make it hard to imagine there's anything to feel good about, but crisis situations often bring out the best in people. Today's Feel Good Friday looks at the group behind the Twitter trend #NotInMyName, the Active Change Foundation.

First things, first. There is a website, Not In My Name created to show that "ISIS does not represent Islam" and it's now a trending hashtag on Twitter. Muslims who condemn the attacks by ISIS can let the world know that ISIS doesn't speak for them. You can follow this group @NOT_INMYNAME and read or contribute tweets using #NotInMyName.

This is just one project of the Active Change Foundation, a youth leadership organization created in 2003 by Hanif Qadir as a response to the violent street crime he saw in his east London neighborhood.

The flagship project of the ACF is the Young Leaders Programme (we are in London after all). As the website explains, the program "enables young people to spend seven months exploring a cause that they feel passionate about through workshops, community events and a residential course. Its aim is to turn young people into community leaders by teaching leadership skills, crisis management and critical thinking within a problem solving environment."

The skills they learn in the program "help them combat street, drug and gang crime, domestic violence and bullying, as well as being given the tools to assist them in preventing radicalisation (sic) and violent extremism."

Other projects run by ACF include a youth center offering a range of activities for 12- 24 year olds, an outreach program that educates young people and their parents about radicalization and gang crime, outdoor activities that connect youth with authority figures, a program that focuses on women affected by extremism and violent crime and a website, See it, report it where people can report extremists posts they see online.

You can read more details on their project page, stay current by liking their Facebook page and following the founder on Twitter @HanifQadir. No matter how terrible the situation, there are always people doing something to make it better. #FeelGoodFriday